TTM Success - Jerry Logan

Here's a cool football card that I found at the Chantilly show last month.  I sent it off to be signed TTM by Jerry Logan.  It is a 1965 Philadelphia Gum card and looks really nice signed.

Logan (b. 1941) played professionally from 1963 to 1972 for the Colts.  He had 34 interceptions and 5 touch downs.  He was a 3-time pro bowler.  He won Super Bowl V against the Cowboys.

I mailed to Logan on October 23 and got the card back on November 1, for a 9-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Doug Eggers

At the last card show I went to, I picked up a couple nice 1955 Bowman football cards that my friend, Wes, was selling.  I got the cards so I could add a couple nice, vintage football cards to the autograph album.  This one was the first (and right now, only) one to come back, from Doug Eggers.

Eggers (b. 1930) played pro football from 1954 to 1958 for the Baltimore Colts and Chicago Cardinals.  He played in 54 games in his career and had 4 interceptions for 24 yards.

I mailed to Eggers on December 13 and got the card back signed on December 21, for an 8-day TAT.

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Chuck Thompson

I wasn't going to buy anything for quite a while.  I have been trying to save money, and be able to pay for Chris's braces when they are finally put on next month.  I had two different friends offer me two amazing deals on some signed baseballs, so I couldn't pass them up.

The first baseball was an absolute steal that my good friend, Cal, offered me.  His reasoning was that he wanted the baseball to go to a true Orioles fan, and didn't want me to pass it up.  Fair enough.  Cal had actually shown me the ball a while back, and I helped him identify some of the signatures on the ball.

It is a Baltimore Orioles team signed baseball from what appears to be 1994. I would have already been interested in the ball, if it only contained some Orioles players, but whomever got this ball signed (Cal got it from his neighbor who collected when he was a kid) had it signed by Hall of Fame broadcaster, Chuck Thompson.

Thompson was to the Orioles what Ernie Harwell was to the Tigers; Jack Buck was to the Cardinals; Vin Scully was to the Dodgers; you get my point.  I missed out on a good deal on a Thompson single-signed baseball a couple years ago, and regretted it.  When Cal told me Thompson was on this ball, and at the price he offered, I jumped all over it.

Thompson (b. 1921 - d. 2005) began his broadcasting career in 1939, in Reading, PA.  His career was interrupted by a stint in the Army in World War II, where he fought at the Battle of the Bulge.  He resumed his career in 1945.  Beginning in 1946, he called all home games for both of the Philadelphia baseball teams (A's and Phillies).  In 1949, Thompson was hired to broadcast games for the International League Orioles (the O's were not yet a MLB franchise) and the Baltimore Colts.

When the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954, Thompson was unable to broadcast Orioles games because their broadcasting rights were owned by a rival corporation.  The company hired Ernie Harwell to broadcast the games, but wanted Thompson to be a part of the broadcast, so he ended up working alongside Harwell beginning in 1955.

From 1957 to 1961, Thompson called Washington Senators games with Bob Wolff.  Thompson would return to the Orioles, and broadcast their games from 1962 to 1987.  During his time with the Orioles, he would call games for two World Series Champions, five AL pennants, six AL East titles and only one losing season.

Thompson would come out of retirement in 1991, to call games part-time for the Orioles, but would retire for good in 2000.

Thompson received the Ford C. Frick Award (which makes him a Hall of Fame broadcaster) in 1993.

Thompson passed away in 2005 after suffering a stroke.

Other players/personnel on the baseball include: Peter Angelos, Elrod Hendricks, Rafael Palmeiro, Harold Baines, Lonnie Smith, Arthur Rhodes, Mark Eichhorn, Mark Williamson, Chris Hoiles, Alan Mills, and Leo Gomez.

Thompson becomes my 147th Hall of Famer on a baseball.  Thank you so much for the deal, Cal!

TTM Success - Lenny Moore

I've been through my boxes a bunch of times over the last month or so.  During one of those times through them, I found this 2008 Donruss Legends Lenny Moore and checked to see if he signed TTM.  He does, so I sent it off and here it is.

Moore (b. 1933) played pro football from 1956 to 1967 for the Baltimore Colts.  He rushed for a career 5,174 yards with 63 touchdowns and had 6,039 receiving yards with 48 touchdowns.  He won the NFL championship in 1958 and 1959 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975.

Before the NFL, Moore played for three seasons at Penn State.

I mailed to Moore on January 3 and got the card back signed on January 12, for a 9-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $5.00.

TTM Success - Raymond Berry

Here is another case of me having a random card floating around my boxes that I finally got the nerve to send out for a TTM auto.  This Raymond Berry card has popped up on my desk and in my boxes for a long time.  I had been holding it for someone that I thought was a friend, but when he scammed me, the card was dumped in my dime box for card shows.  There the card sat, until I was going through the box one day and saw it.  I decided to see if Berry signed TTM, and was pleasantly surprised that he did.

Berry inscribed the card with his HOF induction year and also the year which he signed it.  I thought that was a really cool touch.

Berry also included this signed testimonial, which, again, was a nice touch.  The coolest thing about the TTM success was that Berry included a note card asking me to explain the origin of my last name.  He left a spot on the card for an explanation and a SASE to send it back to him.  His note said that his hobby is history/origin of American last names.  So, in effect, Berry TTMed me!  That was a really cool touch!

Berry (b. 1933) played in the NFL from 1955 to 1967, all for the Baltimore Colts.  He won the NFL Championship in 1958 and 1959.  His number 82 was retired by the Colts.  He went on to coach the Patriots in the 1980s, leading them to Superbowl XX, where they were trounced by the Bears.  Berry played at SMU and was a 20th round selection in the 1954 NFL draft.  He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

I mailed to Berry on January 9 and got the card back on January 20, for an 11-day TAT.